Several questions regarding gallbladder post-op recovery.

[MuseFan00]

I had my gallbladder removed with single site robotic laparoscopic surgery on October 25. I've really not had any complications although I have questions regarding a few symptoms that I'm hoping someone can shed some light on:

1. I still feel out of sorts. My head feels foggy, a little light headed still, and yes I am walking around and moving myself. Is it normal to feel this way several days post-op? I am drinking and eating (low-fat).

2. I've been having "normal" bowel movements daily since surgery (albeit they seem larger than normal, but not loose). Yesterday I had the normal urge to go, and AFTER I was done my stomach gave me the worst cramps I've ever felt. It felt like my intestines were being squeezed and set on fire. 10/10 pain, I was nauseous, sweating, on the floor type of pain. Lasted about 20-30 minutes, and gradually lessened. For the remainder of the night my lower abdomen just felt sore and inflamed internally. I called the surgeon's office who didn't seem too concerned so long as I wasn't running fever and just said to keep an eye on it and to call back if it happened again???

3. I am reading how there could be malabsoprtion issues with essential fatty acids after gallbladder removal. I'm wondering how common this is and what can you do to prevent that? What are signs of malabsorption? Would this be contributing to my foggy head?

4. I'm very well educated regarding the pros/cons of gallbladder removal, I researched the hell out of this before I had my elective procedure done (AKA It was not done from an emergency standpoint) and I'm also an RN who has seen many patients get a lap chole done... but I am still very anxious and nervous when I read about the serious side effects such as liver congestion, fatty liver, pancreatitis, malabsorption, colon cancer (???). The things that they don't teach you about in textbooks obviously, and things you don't see after you discharge the patient. Can anyone out there ease my mind about these fears?

Thank you!

[MuseFan00]

Dr. Santos,

Ironically I came back to this forum for a different issue and saw that you had responded to my gallbladder post.

Re: my health post-chole, I was fine. I recovered well with no other complications, not even that severe abdominal cramping I had that one time came back (thankfully). I am digesting just fine, even when I eat something fatty, though still trying to eat better for the sake of health and not necessarily because of the surgery.

Thanks for the post!

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? It has been a few months after your laparoscopic gall bladder removal. Do you still feel the symptoms that you mentioned? While gallbladder removal is a major abdominal operation and certain risks have been associated with any kind of operation, majority of laparoscopic gallbladder patients experiences few or no complications and quickly return to normal activities.Transient malabsorption of fats may indeed be possible and could lead to diarrhea and weight loss. However, it is often recommended to have a low fat diet after the procedure. Take care and hope all is well. Do keep us posted and best regards.